Katie's Blog

Oh my. This is ridiculous. I have been elected into the Texas Institute of Letters! ... I am still in a bit of shock, to be honest. Joining TIL is one of those "bucket list" career goals of mine, something I aspired to do some day when I'm old, wise, and gray. The writers I admire most are a part of this organization, and for me to be joining them? It's an honor above just about any honor I can think of. I'm truly humbled by it. And not in that humble-brag sort of humble. The real kind where I wonder how on earth this has happened to me. This news came at the best/worst imaginable time. I first received unofficial news about two weeks ago, on what was supposed to be the day B and I would celebrate our 13th anniversary. Unfortunately, that morning, I had gotten terribly ill with a horrific ear infection, and we ended up having to cancel our dinner reservations so I could stay home and try to get well. I didn't get well. In fact, my infection got s...

Well, there she is! My next book will be out any day now. This book has been a few years in the making, and I'm incredibly grateful that it's finally coming to fruition. And will you look at those amazing blurbs? Before I declare my goals for next year, let's take a peek back and see how I did to keep myself accountable: 1. Find direction for new poetry manuscript in the works. I don't need to complete it, but I'd like to have an idea before the end of the year as to how it's going to all come together. Well, I DID complete my "next" poetry collection, An Iliad of Bones. I mean, it's ready to go. So I blew this one to smithereens. I didn't submit it anywhere because I didn't want to have two books coming out so close together, so it's just sitting on laptop now.  2. Stop being afraid to try new writerly things. I'm a poet, but I'd like to try writing fiction, criticism, memoir, children's lit, SOMETHING ELSE to di...

B and I celebrated our New Year at our favorite Indian restaurant and a nice bottle of cabernet. Fireworks, apparently a huge thing in southeast Texas, surrounded us and gave us a lively display from our living room window. We clanked out glasses together, toasting endings and new beginnings. Before I look ahead and define some writerly goals for 2018, I want to take a quick look back at the monumental year 2017 was for me. It was a year of change and transition, a year of growth, and ultimately, a year of joy. I think the above picture pretty much sums up my year: I was surrounded by, supported by, and loved by some amazing people. 2017 was, in short, an amazing year.  Normally I post my "writerly accomplishments," my books and publications for the year to give myself a visual, but because of transitions, about half of my books are in Beaumont and the other half are in Edinburg, so I'll have to forgo that at least for now. In the meantime, though, I'll g...